Banished

'Building' is a pretty broad theme. There are a lot of games where you build things, after all, and they can be very different. Helpfully, then, I've split this list of the 20 best building games on PC into four sections, each covering a sub-category of this big, messy genre.

Tagged with feature, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Anno 1800, Banished, Cities: Skylines, Don't Starve, Dwarf Fortress, Emperor: rise of the middle kingdom, Factorio, Frostpunk, Jurassic World Evolution, Megaquarium, NewCity, Offworld Trading Company, Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe, Ostriv, Oxygen Not Included, Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo, Prison Architect, RimWorld, Rise to Ruins, Stronghold HD, Surviving Mars, Surviving Mars: Green Planet, They Are Billions.

Management games have been making a real comeback in recent years, so we've put together this list of the very best management games you can play on PC in 2020. Whether you want to be an aspiring city planner, a wannabe farm herd or just survive against the elements, there's a management game for you below.

Tagged with Bestest Bests, feature, Anno 1800, Banished, Cities: Skylines, Dungeon Keeper, Dwarf Fortress, Factorio, Frostpunk, Megaquarium, Oxygen Not Included, Planet Coaster, Prison Architect, RimWorld, Slime Rancher, Stardew Valley, Surviving Mars, The Sims 4, Tropico 6, Two Point Hospital, Zeus: Master of Olympus.

My body betrayed me last month, trapping me in my bed when it wasn’t sending me rushing to my poor, overworked loo. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t work and so I turned to management games to take my mind off the virus squatting inside me. Juggling budgets, disasters and production chains might not sound particularly relaxing, but there’s also a swathe of low-pressure sims that…

Tagged with feature, Banished, Cities: Skylines, Frostpunk, Megaquarium, Parkasaurus, Planet Coaster, Reigns, Reigns: Game of Thrones, Reigns: Her Majesty, Stardew Valley, Surviving Mars.

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.I got my arse kicked by the readership when I reviewed Banished and made it clear I didn't enjoy myself at all. I don't mind. I'm glad.

Tagged with feature, Have You Played, Banished.

Every Moday we send Brendan to plough the fields of early access and see if anything nutritious grows. This week he mismanages a settlement of brow-beaten farm workers in Forest Village [official site], a placid spin-off from Life Is Feudal’s medieval sandbox.The village of Scallyminster lies in ruins. I’d like to think I did everything in my power to help the last citizens of this…

Tagged with feature, Forest Village, Life is Feudal, Mindillusion, Premature Evaluation, Banished, Life Is Feudal: Forest Village.